
!Help file for FresCache 3.18 30/7/2001
=======================================


Copyrights & Distribution
=========================

FresCache is a copyright product of Vince M Hudd/Soft Rock Software.

This version has been made freely available from the Soft Rock
Software website (http://www.softrock.co.uk), but it may not be
further distributed by any other means without the prior consent
of the copyright holder.


Disclaimer
==========

Standard disclaimers apply: Soft Rock Software cannot be held liable
for any mishaps caused through use of this software. The software
has been tested and has proven to be reliable on the developer's
own machines.


Instructions
============

When run, FresCache compares the cache index entry for each file
held in Fresco's cache against the !Fresco.Rules file, and makes
a decision about whether or not to delete the file based on this.

The format of the rules file is to have one rule per line. Each
rule starts off with either a '+' or a '-' then, following a
space, there is a URL substring. Following another space is one
or more file extensions, each seperated by spaces:-

[+|-] [url_segment] [filetypes...]

for example:-

+ softrock arc
- webchange arc

The '+'indicates that the file should be kept (if the URL
substring and a filetype matches). If it is a '-' it means the
file should be deleted.

The URL substring is compared against the URL entry for the file
in Fresco cache index. If the URL entry contains the substring,
the file extensions are checked against the last few characters
of the URL.

For each file in turn, a flag is initially set to indicate that
the file is to be deleted. If the file matches a rule, the '+'
or '-' which begins the rule causes this flag to be changed
accordingly. Therefore later rules can override the results of
earlier rules.

To illustrate this, the above example means that any 'arc'
files from a URL which contains 'softrock' will be kept, but
any from a URL containing the word 'webchange' will be deleted
- so any from http://www.softrock.co.uk/ will be kept, but any
from http://www.softrock.co.uk/webchange/ will be deleted.

Had the rules been in the reverse order:-

- webchange arc
+ softrock arc

then all those from http://www.softrock.co.uk/webchange would
be kept - the first rule would have no effect.

If you want a line in the rules file to refer to /all/ files
with a given extension, no matter what site they come from,
use something like:-

- / arc zip

This example would delete all 'arc' and 'zip' files (subject
to a later rule causing them to be kept). To always delete
such files, no matter what site they're from, without any
exceptions, the above line should be the *last* line of the
rules file.

Ultimately, the rules file is there to decide what shouldn't
be deleted. The use of a del (-) and a keep (+) rule should
enable greater control over this by, as per the above example,
allowing you to control what's kept and removed from different
directory levels of a site.

By default, when FresCache deletes files, the Cache index
files are kept up to date - written back to disk without the
entries which refer to those files. If you would rather these
index files are left untouched, load the !FresCache.!Run file
into a text editor, and change the line which reads:-

<FresCache3$Dir>.!RunImage w

and change it to read:-

<FresCache3$Dir>.!RunImage

(ie delete the 'w').

FresCache will have no effect if run when Fresco is loaded.
I find the best approach is to set your system up so that
Fresco is automatically run when the machine is booted. How
you do this depends on which version of RISC OS you are
using.


32bit Compatibility
===================

Given that FresCache is a supporting application to use in
conjunction with Fresco, and Fresco itself is unlikely (as
far as I'm aware) to be updated to 32bit compatibility,
there seems very little point in recompiling this
application to be 32bit compatible.

If and when I next update the code (which may well happen
anyway at some point) it will then be made to be 32bit
compatible as a matter of course - but there is currently
no priority for doing this.



Support/Contact Details
=======================

support@softrock.co.uk

http://www.softrock.co.uk

Soft Rock Software
124 Marissal Road
Henbury
Bristol
BS10 7NP
